


5 small steps

by mrshopkirk



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Cinematic Universe RPF
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Awkward Flirting, Best Friends, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Bucky Barnes's Metal Arm, Bucky is a little shit, Childhood Friends, Dorks, Embarrassment, Epic Friendship, Fluff, Jokes, Male Friendship, Multi, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Steve, Protective Steve Rogers, Silly, Steve Needs a Hug, Steve Rogers Feels, Steve Rogers and the 21st Century, Swearing, annoying steve, best friends since childhood, don't take this seriously, embarrassing pictures of steve, recovering bucky, winter soldier - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-13
Updated: 2017-08-07
Packaged: 2018-12-01 15:35:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11489394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrshopkirk/pseuds/mrshopkirk
Summary: First published on Tumblr.





	1. Step 1: in the middle of the night

**Author's Note:**

> First published on Tumblr.

Steve is taking Sam’s advice when it comes down to Bucky’s recovery. He doesn’t push it but it’s difficult to accept the slow process and he’s being supportive, just like Sam said. But Steve is Steve and there is a reason why Sam is a counselor and Steve… well, isn’t. Whenever there isn’t an awkward situation, you can count on Steve to make it awkward.

 

Bucky isn’t always comfortable with physical contact, but he’s getting there. So Sam said to take it easy. All Steve heard however was ‘no physical contact’. As time passes, Bucky is having more and more better days and when neither of them pay attention they slip into their old ways of interaction like there never was a seventy-year gap of torture and ice. Bucky jokes, Steve laughs. Bucky teases Steve, Steve gets riled up (which Bucky thoroughly enjoys). Bucky proudly tells about something he did. Steve claps his shoulder… only to freeze entirely and ever so slowly remove his hand of his shoulder, keeping his eyes straightforward like he’s touching a mine ready to explode any minute.

 

The action confuses Bucky and he freezes too. His eyes go wide. Maybe there’s a spider, he thinks to himself, a huge freaking spider. He follows Steve’s gaze to the wall. Spiders give him the creeps and he shudders. Steve thinks his touch is the reason and excuses profusely to Bucky and scurries out the room. Bucky is still looking at the wall, squinting his eyes this time.

 

“Pssst… Nat?” he whispers. “Do you see a spider? Steve is scared of spiders. Should I go check on him?”

 

She sips her coffee quietly and doesn’t look up from her book. “Nah. He’s fine.”

 

Bucky nods and continues his cross word puzzle scanning the wall every now and then for spiders.

 

Meanwhile in the hallway Steve is hitting his head against the wall. “Stupid.” Thud. “Stupid.” Thud. “Stupid.” Thud. Thud. Thud.

“What’s that sound I keep hearing?” Tony asks.

 

“That’s Steve hitting his head against the wall for being an idiot,” Nat says without looking up from her book. “And at the rate he’s being an idiot, he’ll end up with a flat forehead by the end of the month.”

 

*** 

 

Steve stays in his room the rest of the day and sleep doesn’t come for what feels like the hundredth time in a row that night. So he does what he does best which is worry. He’s an expert at that. He lies awake, processing everything that happened during the day or on missions. Did I make the right decisions? Did I endanger anyone? Because he’s really good at that too. Didn’t I say something stupid at the press conference? He’s proven himself really good at spewing out stupidity on air as well. Have I said or done anything to make Bucky relapse? He might have done an excellent job at that today. I should give myself a pat on the back for that, he sarcastically thinks. Sometimes he wishes he could get sick so he could stay in bed all day. But Captain America isn’t supposed to stay in bed. He’s not allowed to and he doesn’t get sick anyway. Looking at the clock on his bedside table, it tells him it’s 3 am. All is quiet in the compound. It seems everyone’s nightmares stay away tonight.

 

Bucky’s room is located in the same hallway as the rest of the Avengers, right across Steve. Steve often finds himself staring at the door, thinking how little space there is between Bucky and him. He sighs. Even if it’s just two doors and a corridor, it might as well be New York and Siberia. It feels as if they’re that far apart.

 

He takes a sip of water but chokes on it. He starts coughing and his bedroom door flies open. The loud bang when the door and wall collide, and a dark figure approaches him fast, startling him and he jumps up in bed. He comes face to face with Bucky who’s already hitting him on his back with a bit more force than he should and just smacking him right back on the bed. Steve doesn’t know if he’s still coughing or if the brutal force of Bucky’s left hand causes the short pants of breath.

 

“Are you okay, Steve?” he asks, a soft expression in his eyes, a stark contrast to the hard metal hand which is still trying to rearrange his vertebra.

 

When Sam, Nat and Tony enter Steve’s room, they’re just in time to see Bucky removing his hand from Steve who’s hunched over form is gasping for breath. Tony, already his hand armor on, and Sam take an offensive stand towards Bucky who steps away from Steve into the shadow. His expression has become dark when he doesn’t know how to cope with a situation. Nat is closing in on Steve, taking a fighting stance in front of him, determined to be the last line of defense in case something goes wrong.

 

“No!” Steve waves his hand, trying to catch some air, and jumps out of bed. “There’s nothing wrong. He just-“

 

Bucky blinks rapidly, so do Tony and Sam. Nat giggles. And that’s the moment Steve realizes he sleep in the nude and covers himself awkwardly with a pillow. Bucky comes back to his senses and he pushes his way past Tony and Sam, making them stumble back a few steps. Before walking through the door, he looks over his shoulder to Steve.

 

“I just- I just wanted to make sure you were okay, Steve. I heard you cough and-“ he sighs, looking Steve’s impressive frame up and down, “Never mind, I keep forgetting you can’t get sick anymore.”

 

When Bucky’s door closes, the rest of them are still lost for words. Tony is the first to speak.

 

“Did he just appear in your room in record time because he heard you cough?” He snaps his head towards Steve, eyes wide. “Because you _coughed_?!”

 

Not waiting for a response, Tony and Sam leave. Steve hears Tony mumble to Sam. “Remind me never to cough. Last thing I need is a winter nurse storming in my room at night trying to whack my lungs out of my body.”

 

In the morning Steve wakes up with a smile on his face, wondering if it would be a bad thing to fake coughing that night. When he shakes the idea from his mind, he gets ready to get up. And there it is… Cough medicine on his bedside table along with a glass of water and an extra cover at the end of his bed, folded so he could easily pull all the way over him with one pull. There’s only one person in the world that used to fold his extra blankets like that and he wonders how he got in his room and did all that without waking him. I guess Bucky is stealthier than I am, Steve thinks, hugging the blanket and smiling so wide that he feels his face will crack wide open. He turns around in his bed and notices a fresh pair of underwear lying on the pillow next to him. Jerk.

 

The following night Steve’s heart is beating rapidly. Should he or should he not? Ah, what the hell? What’s the worst that can happen? So he coughs. Within a few seconds Bucky is standing next to his bed, his expression changing from worried to very pissed when he sees Steve with the blankets pulled to his eyes, giggling like a little schoolgirl.

 

“You fucking punk.” He whacks Steve over the head with his pillow.

 

It leaves Steve in a fit of giggles but the lopsided grin appearing on Bucky’s face makes him regret what he did.

 

“No. No,” he sternly says, pointing his finger at a now widely grinning Bucky.

 

“Bucky,” he says in warning tone, “no!”

 

“Bucky YES!”

 

The thuds Nat hears down the hallway are the ones of Bucky repeatedly hitting Steve over the head with his own pillow. The road to recovery for Bucky, she thinks, and if he keeps going, the road to the infirmary for Steve.


	2. Step 2: paint the Quinjet red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Second step of the tale of five small steps Bucky takes on his road to recovery and the help he receives from an overly protective, supportive and determined mother hen called Steve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First published on Tumblr.

The team is returning home in the Quinjet and Steve gives a short briefing. The mission wasn’t all that bad but everyone still took a good beating. He didn’t though. The injuries Steve has are self-inflicted as in stupid-stubborn-Steve-inflicted.

“Guys, we’re going straight to the med bay for our standard post-mission check-ups. I want everyone to get some rest after that. Please, try and be careful around Bucky. He’s still sensitive. Try and act normal, don’t give too many details. Avoid showing him blood, stitches and bruises.”

“You mean we have to hide in our room? Have you seen the state of us, Cap?” Sam asks incredulously.

As the other Avengers take Sam’s side, Steve straightens his back to regain some authority only to wince at the pain in his side. “But Bucky…” But he’s stopped short by a dismissive and a quite insubordinate wave of Nat’s hand.

Meanwhile in the hangar, Bucky is anxiously waiting for the team to return home. It’s the first time Bucky comes down to greet Steve, forcing himself to leave the comfort zone of the floor he’s been staying at these past few months. He’s rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, nervously tucking loose strands of hair behind his ear, glancing left and right trying to calm himself and force himself to stay there.

But there are too many Stark employees, too much noise, too many stares. He’s started avoiding looking at them because every time he tries to force a smile, they just seem to walk faster and scatter in every direction but his. One even walked into a wall. He should probably work on his facial expressions. He feels like that blue creature from that movie they watched with Cassie last week. What was he called? Oh right, Stitch. Just when he’s about to give up on his resolve to wait for Steve to return and ask him if he wants to watch a movie, the Quinjet lands.

Bucky tenses when he sees Nat coming out, bloody hair sticking to her face. Sam isn’t looking much better with his arm taped to his chest. Bucky’s heart starts beating rapidly in his chest and he strides towards the jet. He’s waiting for Steve to emerge but the next one out is Scott with a black eye the size of Texas and a limp. Stumbling after him is Steve, clutching his side, blood trickling down from his eyebrow. Surprised to see his friend out in the hangar, a small smile forms on his face but disappearing as fast as it came when the brunette picks up the pace and stomps over, jaw clenched, startling everyone. So much for hiding all the injuries.

“WHAT. THE. FUCK. DID. YOU. DO?” he bellows. The words bounce violently of the walls of the hangar stopping everyone in their tracks.

Steve’s eyes widen, he gulps, for some reason looking at nearby Stark employees for support. The most he gets is a hurried “nu-hu, you’re on your own”.

“I-“ Steve tries.

“I don’t need to hear your fucking excuses, Rogers! You come back home one more time bleeding, I’ll make you fucking bleed so hard you can paint the Quinjet with it.”

Steve wants to open his mouth, but is met with the raised finger of Bucky telling him to shut it. Bucky then points towards the elevator and Steve slowly shuffles away like a little boy sent to the principal’s office, looking over his shoulder as Bucky turns to his teammates.

“What did he do?” Bucky’s harsh exasperated tone makes everyone cringe and look at each other.

“He didn’t wait for Sam to pick him up so he jumped from a five-story high building,” Nat says matter-of-factly and shrugs her shoulders when Steve gives her a look of betrayal.

Bucky’s eyes grow wide looking from Steve to the rest of the team, back and forth and back and forth. “You’re all supposed to take care of him!” He points at every single one of them. “You _know_ he does stupid stuff all the time! I need him back alive, you understand.” His voice wavers and even Bucky is surprised at the words coming out of his mouth. After picking up Steve’s shield, he turns on his heels and makes his way over to where Steve is waiting by the elevator. When the doors open he gives him a firm shove, making Steve wince.

“Shut up. Let’s get you cleaned up. And you’re not getting your shield back for a while, you hear?”

Before the elevator doors close, Steve catches a last glimpse of his teammates, Sam giving him a wink and Nat shaking her head, smiling. Bucky doesn’t notice. He’s already scanning Steve body, carefully pulling at every strap of his uniform.

“Jesus Christ, how do you get in and out of this thing?,” he asks while mumbling to himself what a careless punk he is. “Does it hurt anywhere?”

“I’m fine, Buck. Everything’s healing already,” he smiles but Bucky still looks unconvinced. Steve’s smile doesn’t falter though. He’s healing all right, his body as well as his heart.

“We’re still going to the infirmary.” When the elevator dings, Bucky grabs Steve’s arms and pulls him behind him.

“Captain Rogers, good morning. Here for your post-mission check-up?” The doctor turns around from where he was standing and finds himself nose to nose with the winter soldier.

“Morning doctor,” Steve pipes from behind Bucky giving him a little wave.

The doctor clears his throat but his voice still comes out squeaky. “Ok, Captain, if you will follow me?” He receives a firm push in his chest, his lab coat in a firm metal grip.

“No.” It’s more of a low rumble escaping Bucky.

“No?” the doctor asks in a high-pitched voice.

“No. I don’t want white lab coats with needles near him. No-one touches him but me. Where are the supplies?” Following the doctor’s instructions Bucky drags Steve behind him, positioning himself effectively between Steve and the doctor. He quickly and carefully goes to work stitching Steve’s eyebrow.

“He’s quite skilled,” the doctor says impressed and Steve beams at the compliment for his best friend.

“You have should have seen how he could patch me up back in the day.” He proudly pushes out his chest, failing to notice the grin slowly making its way onto Bucky’s face. Bucky gives him a nasty stab with the needle. “Ow!!” The yelp escaping Captain America makes the doctor chuckle.

“Stop pretending you’re Superman.”

“Don’t insult me.”


	3. Step 3: just like Dot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Third step of the tale of five small steps Bucky takes on his road to recovery and the help he receives from an overly protective, supportive and determined mother hen called Steve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First posted on Tumblr.

They all decided to go to Coney Island, trying to make new memories for Bucky. Well, actually it was Steve’s idea but everyone caved just to escape a verbal murder by Steve’s incessant nagging and pushing. Steve seemed utterly pleased with what he thought was the most brilliant plan ever conceived. Sam intervened for everyone’s sake and convinced Bucky to go along with it, more for the Captain’s sake than his own. They both knew he would never let it go anyway.

 

“We all have to support Bucky. We all need Bucky to get better. Bucky needs us. Bucky needs this. Of course Bucky is okay with this. No, I haven’t asked him but I’m sure. Bucky, please, you need this. Who knows, maybe you’ll meet a girl? Jesus, relax, it was just a joke. But you never know, Buck. Hey, why don’t you practice with Nat like you’re on a date? Don’t you flip your finger at me! And watch your language! Did you just curse at me in Russian?”

 

“I can’t believe this is what you guys call a disguise?” Bucky mutters. “We stick out like a sore thumb.”

 

They’re all wearing baseball caps and sunglasses. The men’s t-shirts are too tight, their muscles too bulging, Nat’s hair too red to be inconspicuous, let alone the murder strut they all have.

 

The afternoon is spent eating ice creams, playing some games, riding the Cyclone. Steve is thrilled that Bucky’s smiling and innocently asks to ride the Cyclone again and again. Until he remembers that an innocently smiling Bucky is the worst kind of Bucky but by that time he had one too many rides.

 

He finds himself running to some trash bin, sticking his head in. Bucky is standing next to Steve whose making monstrous sounds in the metal bin.

 

“Remember when you made me ride that line to the train? This is payback, punk.”

 

Steve whimpers and utters that it isn’t fair to bring up that particular moment in their lives when everything turned to shit. Bucky laughs and claps Steve’s back making him hit his head in the trash bin.

 

“Some things never change,” Bucky says more to himself than anyone else when he joins the rest of the group again. Sam heard him though. “It’s amazing that _this_ makes someone who jumps out of planes without a parachute sick,” he says, making Sam snicker.

 

Steve’s groaning but he’s just in time to see Bucky and Sam exchange a smile. It’s worth getting sick over, he thinks to himself before sticking his head back in the bin.

 

They play some games but are quickly banned from most of them as neither Bucky or Steve miss their targets. Steve, feisty as always however, holds some speech about it not being fair to exclude people and sulks for an hour because he didn’t get the six giant bears and unicorns he feels entitled to. Bucky’s happy with the gigantic soft brown, old-fashioned bear he won, holding it the entire way home.

 

 ***

 

“Ready to woo me, Barnes?” Nat winks and Bucky gives Steve such a deadly glare that he swallows hard and keeps his sudden doubts about this plan to himself.

 

“Why her?” Bucky hisses, jutting his chin at Nat who’s sitting on the couch in the common room. She’s filing her nails; legs crossed and winks at him and Steve.

 

“She's a redhead. You can pretend she's Dot. Remember Dot?”

 

“Stop saying ‘remember’,” Bucky mumbles.

 

“Just pretend she's Dot, man. Maybe you can…

 

“Don't say it.”

 

“Well, try talking to her.” Steve gestures to Nat with both his hands waving up and down her body. “Practice, you know.”

 

“I think it’s more useful if I try to actually go outside on my own and, I don’t know, maybe order a cup a fucking coffee somewhere before I start chatting up women?!”

 

He shoos Bucky towards Nat. “Practice.”

 

“Steve…” Bucky says in a warning tone, “no.”

 

“Steve yes. Now talk to her.”

 

“Say what?”

 

“Something!!”

 

Bucky begrudgingly shuffles towards Nat. He looks at her through his thick eyelashes. “Hey.”

 

“Well, hello there, sailor.”

 

“Sailor?”

 

“It’s an expression. But fine, well, hello there, former hydra assassin.”

 

Bucky sighs and turns to Steve. “This is by far the worst idea you ever had. It’s even worse than that time you decided to dress up like a woman in France.” He looks at Nat. “I bet he never told you that. I thought he could never pull it off but we all had to admit his tits looked mighty nice in that dress.”

 

“BUCK!” Steve’s face is beet red.

 

“Yes, Steve?”

 

“Just focus, will you? Just say the exact same thing as you said to the real Dot. I don't know. Anything really! Win her a freaking teddy bear.”

 

Running his hands up and down his face, Steve is exasperated. Bucky on the other is starting to get very amused. Just like old times, he thinks. Maybe Steve is right and he was an annoying little shit back then. From the corner of his eye he sees Nat grinning and winks at her, his partner in crime.

 

“But there's no teddy bear here,” he softly says, biting the inside of his cheeks.

 

“That's beside the point!” Steve throws his hands up in the air and cries out loud.

 

“Don't yell!”

 

“Talk. To. Her.” Taking deep breaths between each word, Steve closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose and doesn’t notice the snickering of Nat and Bucky.

 

“I can't!”

 

“Why not?!”

 

“Because besides winning the teddy bear, I never talked to Dot.”

 

“Wow.” Nat holds up her hands. “I'm only here for talking, fellas. That's as far as I'll go.”

 

“But… but then what did you do?” Steve looks incredulously at Bucky, making Nat face palm herself at all his naivety.

 

Bucky wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. “Well, there was a lot of body language and she mumbled incoherent things and said my name. And then I said her name and then she said my name again and, well so on.”

 

“What do you mean?” Steve’s pure cluelessness is both endearing as well as incredibly frustrating.

 

“Jesus Christ, Steve, and I thought I was the one needing help. I need to remember but you still haven't learned,” he sighs.

 

“I’ll spell it out for you, the only thing Nat and Dot have something in common, besides the color of their hair, is that I had my head between their legs,” Bucky shouts. “Although in slightly different positions.”

 

When Nat returns to her room that night, there’s a teddy bear outside her door. Picking up the soft brown old-fashioned bear, she smiles when she reads the card.

 

_For your trouble,_

_Bucky_

_PS I’m sorry for everything Steve does._


	4. Step 4: all the colors of the rainbow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fourth step of the tale of five small steps Bucky takes on his road to recovery and the help he receives from an overly protective, supportive and determined mother hen called Steve.

More and more memories make their way to the surface filling Bucky with joy. One of the things he enjoys most is watching Steve draw. It’s calming, it’s grounding, it’s from the good days before they both fell to their unknown future that is now the past. He bought Steve the sketch book himself and high quality pencils and markers in all the colors of the rainbow and some brushes. It was a big step, going out to a shop all by himself and it took him long before he felt strong enough to actually do it. He thought of it early September and wanted to buy it for Christmas. Eventually Steve got it as a birthday present.

 

Today is a good day, Bucky thinks to himself. He had a good night’s rest, the sun is shining, he’s having a nice cup of coffee, Steve’s drawing with an intense look on his face, tip of his tongue sticking out a little and his face looks young. Bucky closes his eyes and sighs contently. And that is exactly what catches the attention of the man called Steve. The man whose overeager brain is always trying to come up with a plan to help Bucky and keep him busy because keeping busy is the remedy for everything.

 

“Hey Buck?”

 

“Hmmm,” is the lazy reply, a small smile forming on Bucky’s face.

 

“Why don’t you try your hand at drawing? You were good at it back in the day.”

 

“I don’t feel like it. I like watching you though. What have you got so far?” The warm look in his eyes doesn’t escape Sam who’s sitting in the opposite couch, happy to see the progress Bucky is rapidly making these last few months. But Steve is determined to get Bucky to draw.

 

“I’ll show you when you draw something.” The singing, challenging tone sets Bucky on edge, the grip on his cup tightening.

 

There we go again, Sam thinks and rolls his eyes. “Steve, let the man be.”

 

“Come on, Buck.”

 

“No.”

 

“For me? Please?”

 

Goddammit, there he goes with the fucking puppy dog eyes. Bucky clenches his teeth. He hates the puppy dog eyes or more so the fact that he can never resist them so he looks away. Don’t look, Bucky, don’t look. You got this, man. Keep looking out the window. He’ll give up eventually. But he sighs and hangs his head in defeat, knowing Steve will never give up. He’ll look like a Labrador all day if he has to.

 

“Gimme the damn pencils.” If Bucky thought the puppy dog eyes are bad, he now learns that giving in to them means he is met with an overeager Steve Rogers who resembles a puppy wagging its little tail and fetching pencils for its owner.

 

Drawing proves to be more difficult than he remembers. The lines aren’t smooth; the pressure he exercises isn’t constant, and the colors are all wrong making him wonder if his time with hydra made him colorblind.

 

“Stop looking at my hands, Steve. You’re making me nervous,” Bucky speaks through gritted teeth.

 

“You’re doing great, Buck. Come on.” Steve’s tone of voice is just too encouraging, like he’s praising a little child. “It’s relaxation therapy. It’ll make you feel Zen. You know, woosaaaahh.”

 

Instead of woosaaaahh, it goes snap. The pencil in Bucky’s hand didn’t survive Steve’s Zen. Bucky runs his hand down his face. Oh dear god, help me.

 

The broken pencil is ripped from his hand and immediately replaced with a new one. Steve places the sketchbook that has fallen on the floor back in Bucky’s lap. With a nod of his head he says, “Again.” It comes out harsher than he means.

 

Bucky appreciates everything Steve does for him. He really does. But he just doesn’t know when to quit. In a way it’s comforting to have something from the past that hasn’t changed. He just wishes it were something else than a stubborn Steve.

 

“Steve.” Bucky tries to keep his voice calm. “I have to do things in my own pace. Not right now because you say so. I don’t get better on command, you know?”

 

He’s met with silence, which he welcomes but accompanying it is the look of a beaten puppy. Why does he look like a puppy all the time? Silently picking up his pencils and sketchbook, Steve avoids looking at Bucky, feeling utterly disappointed. He shuffles out, glancing at Bucky one more time over his shoulder like a puppy whose boss doesn’t want to play with him and takes his favorite toy with him. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Bucky thinks, this just gets worse and worse.

 

“You did the right thing,” Sam says. “Just enjoy the day as it is.”

 

“You know, he’ll be right back, don’t you? It’s Steve we’re talking about. He doesn’t give up this easily.” Of course Bucky is right as Steve returns to his faithful place next to Bucky after a little while.

 

Steve opens his mouth but is met with a stern “Don’t even think about it.”

 

“But-“

 

“Steve, no.”

 

Bucky groans as Steve still slides his sketchbook and markers onto Bucky’s lap. “I only brought markers and the colors you liked the most, you know, back when.”

 

It makes Bucky smile because you can’t deny that’s sweet. He clenches his teeth when he looks at the sketchbook. “And what’s _this_ , Steve?”

 

Steve shrugs. “I figured you might like to color first and then draw.”

 

“So you drew me a clown to color in?”

 

Sam’s eyes shoot open and he gazes at the picture of a very simple and very childish clown. Oh Steve, he groans to him self.

 

“Okay,” Bucky says coolly, eliciting an excited clap from Steve. So Bucky takes the markers and in a flash pounces on Steve knocking him on the floor. “I’ll color the fucking clown.”

 

“Bucky NO!”

 

“Bucky yes,” he grunts, holding Steve in a lock.

 

Sam’s cackling with laughter when Bucky colors Steve’s nose red.


	5. Step 5: social media

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fifth step of the tale of five small steps Bucky takes on his road to recovery and the help he receives from an overly protective, supportive and determined mother hen called Steve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First posted on Tumblr.

Bucky’s been sitting at the kitchen counter for a while now, sipping his lemonade, thanking his lucky stars Steve isn’t here to lecture him about eating and drinking healthy and reprimanding him for adding extra sugar to already sugary drinks. He likes everything sweet. He’s had his fill of water, liquid and dried food, IV’s and everything tasting the same for all those years. Just like he like his showers long and hot, and his clothes soft and smelling nice. His room is always warm and his bed has an abundance of covers on it. He makes a little cocoon for himself every night. He never closes his curtains so he can see the stars at night and the sun first thing in the morning, hating absolute darkness.

 

He would have cut his hair too but he caught the disappointed look on Steve’s face from the corner of his eye when he mentioned it. He compromised and it’s half-length now. Steve looked so ridiculously happy he thought he was going to braid his hair. He’s also slowly adding color to his room and little trinkets he finds to avoid it from looking like a clean, sterile room. He wants it to feel like a home so he has a picture of him and Steve, and some of his drawings on the wall, and a forties arm chair in the corner next to a stack of books, both of them presents from Wanda who likes thrift shops. He should go with her someday.

 

Bucky hears Nat giggle and peeks over her shoulder.

 

“Watcha doing?” He plops down on the couch next to her.

 

She shows him her phone.

 

“Wow! That’s a cat?”

 

“Yeah, Samson. Probably the biggest cat in the world and he lives in New York.”

 

“Fucking amazing. I want one of those.” He keeps staring at the cat’s pictures. “He’s so huge!”

 

Steve walks in hearing Nat and Bucky giggle and sitting close to one another. Though he has nothing to do with it, still his chest fills with pride like a dad watching his little son learn something new.

 

“What are you kids doing?”

 

“Nothing, _dad_ ,” Nat drawls out the last word making Bucky snicker. “Just watching cats on Instagram like every other normal person on this planet.”

 

“I don’t have Instagram,” Bucky says.

 

“I said _normal_ person, didn’t I?” She pokes Bucky in the ribs. “Oh god, watch it, Barnes,” she mumbles and looks at Steve. “I can just see a bad idea brewing in that insane brain of his.”

 

“I think my brain is the insane one.”

 

“Well, Steve’s more stupid,” she states matter-of-factly, prompting a new giggle from Bucky.

 

Steve plops down on the couch with such force that Nat is catapulted in the air a little and she gives him an undignified look.

 

“Give me your phone, Buck.” Reluctantly Bucky gives him the phone.

 

“Ah, that’s so cute, Barnes, Steve as your lock screen.” It prompts a blush from both Steve and Bucky.

 

“Here you go.” Steve tosses Bucky back his phone. “Now you’re alive online too.”

 

“For fuck’s sake, Steve. How about asking if I want one those things?”

 

“You’ll love it.”

 

“I don’t want it.”

 

“It’ll be fun.”

 

“I don’t want it.”

 

“Yes, you do.”

 

“Stop it before I do something you’re going to regret.”

 

“Like what?” Steve huffs and walks out of the room.

 

When Nat tries to grab his phone from his hands, he clutches it to his chest. “Don’t you people have any respect for privacy? Don’t you know the meaning of boundaries?”

 

“I just want to know your username.”

 

Bucky looks at his screen and groans. “Goddammit Steve. You couldn’t have come up with something better than bionic_barnes?” He points a warning finger to Nat who’s choking back her peals of laughter. “He’s gonna regret this. Just wait and see.” He stalks out the room.

 

“Oh, Steve, you poor stupid man,” Nat hiccups while she pushes the follow button.

 

 

 

 

Steve pours himself a cup of coffee and walks over to the team that’s huddled together around the dinner table.

 

“Who did he get so many followers in a week?” Tony asks incredulously.

 

“Have- have you seen his posts, man?” Sam barely manages to get out before the laugh he’s been holding back escapes him at full force.

 

“What are you guys talking about?” Steve sips his coffee.

 

“Bucky’s- Bucky’s Instagram account,” he snickers.

 

“I’m glad to hear he’s doing so well. I told him it was a great idea to show himself to the world so they can see who he truly is. Just the naked truth, you know?” Steve furrows his eyebrows as everyone is giggling at his words. He clears his throat. “So how many followers does he have?”

 

Everyone goes silent. “You haven’t seen his account then?” Nat asks.

 

“No,” Steve drawls.

 

“He’s at 2 million and counting.”

 

“WHAT?! How- when- how- what?”

 

“Like you said, Steve,” Nat claps him on the shoulder, all you have to do is show the naked truth.”

 

Steve grabs his phone and goes to Bucky’s account.

 

**_bionic_bucky_ **

_Official account of Bucky Barnes. Please, forgive me for all I’ve done. Here, have some pics of Steve._

 

His coffee cup shatters on the floor as he’s met with an account full of pictures of… him.

 

Coming out of the shower at the gym, a towel wrapped around him and bending over to grab his bag, steam surrounding him.

 

Holding on the bars in the Quinjet on his way to a mission, his uniform stretched to its limits across his shoulders and ass.

On his way back from a mission, dirt across his face, blond hair sticking to his forehead and smiling a lopsided grin.

 

Sitting on the floor, drawing, his tongue sticking out.

 

Lifting weights, shirtless and sweaty.

 

Picking up a pencil while Nat pretends to slap his ass, winking at the camera.

 

Sleeping on the couch with a teddy bear in his arms.

 

Posing for the new official Captain America pictures with the entire team photo bombing the shoot. Is that a sandwich sticking out of Scott’s fly?

 

A little video that starts with Nat announcing they’ll get an exclusive of Cap’s bedroom sounds. The screen goes black right after Steve sees the doors to the gym behind Nat. He can hear his grunts, groans, pants, sucking in breath between his teeth. (It’s just working out, people.)

 

Coming out of the swimming pool, shorts stuck to his thighs and what half a million people had now dubbed ‘mini Cap’. (he huffs, water is really cold in January, okay)

 

“BUCKY!!”

 

“Yes, my dear…” Bucky’s leaning against the doorframe.

 

“What the fuck were you thinking? I mean, you can see almost see my dick and my ass in these pictures! You motherfucker! You ass! Jerk!”

 

The shit-eating grin on Bucky’s face makes Steve suspicious. Bucky mouths ‘go on’.

 

“Oh no,” Steve groans. “Bucky, no…”

 

“Bucky yes…”

 

**_bionic_bucky just posted a new video._ **


End file.
